The most significant square of historical Prague. It originated in the 12th century and since then witnessed many events. Beside the Old Town Hall and the Church of Our Lady before Týn (see a special heading) the square has several other dominants, the baroque St. Nicholas church (K. I. Dienzenhofer, 1732 - 1737), the rococo Kinský palace housing the National Gallery exhibition hall, the Stone Bell house - a gothic city palace from the 14th century - now the Municipal Gallery concert and exhibition rooms, and the Memorial to Master Jan Hus sculptured by Ladislav Saloun
(1915).The very place where the 27 Czech gentlemen were executed on 21 June, 1621, is marked in the square pavement.
The Prague meridian can be seen not far from there.
Old Town Hall (Staromestská radnice)
Established 1338 as the seat of the Old Town authorities. The oldest gothic part of the complex which includes a tower and an oriel chapel is richly decorated with coats of arms. It was built in the latter half of the 14th century. In the top part of the astronomical clock (early 15th century) the 12 apostles appear every hour between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m The bottom part was supplemented with a round calendarium including the signs of the zodiac painted by Josef Manes (1865). The eastern pseudo-gothic wing of the Town Hall was destroyed on May 8, 1945, and has not been rebuilt yet.
The most impressive gothic sacral building in Prague the construction of which lasted from the mid-14th to the early 16th century. In the late 17th century the church interior was rebuilt in the baroque style. Its interesting decorations include valuable altar paintings by Karel Skreta and a tombstone of the astronomer Tycho de Brahe. At present renovation of a part of the interior is in progress
St. Nicholas - church - Old Town (Sv. Mikulás - kostel - Staré Mesto) The monumental Baroque edifice built in 1732 - 37 according to the plans of K. I. Dienzenhofer on the place of a former Romanesque parish church, destroyed by a fire in 1689. The church has a layout of a Greek cross with a shallow choir and oval units between its arms, independently vaulted and interconnected with balconies and passages. Its two towers are surpassed by a central dome with a lantern situated between them. The facade on the south side with the main portal and towers is decorated with sculptures by A. Braun, the end of the church near Parízská Street was altered in a modern style and a pseudo-Baroque above-lifesize sand-stone sculpture of St. Nicholas was put in the niche. The elaborately formed picturesque interior is ranked among the best Dienzenhofer´s masterpieces.
|
